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‘He has grown’… Daniel Farke says 23-year-old Leeds player has impressed him recently, set to start tomorrow

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Daniel Farke could be forced into making numerous changes to his Leeds United side tomorrow.

The Whites make the trip to Peterborough United in the FA Cup looking to make it into the fourth round for just the second time in seven years, but have several injury concerns heading into the game.

Sam Byram, Pascal Struijk and Joe Gelhardt are all confirmed absentees, while Liam Cooper is a doubt. Luke Ayling and Jamie Shackleton have both too been on the sidelines in recent weeks.

First choice goalkeepers Illan Meslier and Karl Darlow are also set to miss the game through suspension and injury respectively, meaning that one position that won’t change from the win over Birmingham City, is between the sticks.

Kristoffer Klaesson was handed his full Leeds debut on New Year’s Day and speaking in his pre-match press conference yesterday, Farke shared how happy he has been with him in recent weeks.

Farke delighted with Klaesson work ethic

He said: “He has grown in confidence every day in training. He didn’t have a lot to do against Birmingham but he showed some good positioning.

“I’m delighted for him. He’s a great lad and works hard on the training pitch. I am quite sure he will deliver a good performance in the FA Cup. He definitely gets our backing and trust.”

Leeds United v Birmingham City - Sky Bet Championship
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Klaesson’s only previous senior appearance for Leeds came from the bench in a 3-2 away win at Wolverhampton Wanderers back in March of 2022.

All be it without having much to do, Klaesson looked solid enough against Birmingham and won praise for his performance from both Aidy White and Georginio Rutter.

With Darlow set to be out for the next seven weeks, hopefully Klaesson can produce another decent display at Peterborough to prove his reliability as Meslier’s backup.